North Bay fans witness baseball history as ‘Springer dinger’ sends Jays to World Series

It was a night that Steve Wrixon, of North Bay, Ont., and his family won’t forget anytime soon: watching George Springer sent the Jays to the World Series.

It was a night that Steve Wrixon, of North Bay, Ont., and his family won’t forget anytime soon.

Wrixon, his wife, Amanda Ranger, son Jacob Wrixon and his son’s two friends, Ben Laframboise and Dash Daoust, were seated on the third base line at the Rogers Centre on Monday for Game 7 of the Toronto Blue Jays’ ALCS finale versus the Seattle Mariners.

They witnessed a tense Rogers Centre crowd burst into life when George Springer smashed a three-run home run in the seventh inning, giving the Jays a 4-3 lead that would hold up and send them to the World Series for the first time since 1993.

At the time, the Jays were down 3-1 with the game winding down.

“We just couldn’t get the momentum going,” Wrixon said.

“So then, with two guys on base looking for a hit to tie it up, and all of a sudden, he hits a home run — a ‘Springer dinger’ — and it blew the roof off the place.”

Wrixon grew up a Blue Jays fan, playing baseball in Sudbury and Whitby, Ont., and going to Jays games with his parents. His son now plays baseball with the North Bay Panthers organization.

Wrixon was nine years old when the Jays last won the World Series, the same age as his son is now.

He told his son about that era of Blue Jays baseball, when they won back-to-back championships.

“It was a really big deal, right? Like, you know, you know how long 32 years is in the perspective of a nine-year-old, right?” Wrixon said.

“Everybody is so pumped up. What makes the Jays unique is that they are Canada’s team. So you can feel the energy from across the country.”

He said the atmosphere inside and outside the stadium was “electric” and “exciting,” mixed with tonnes of anxiety.

“It seemed like the first inning took a long time with each team getting a run in with a bit of a rally,” Wrixon said.

“I said to the person next to me, ‘I don’t know if I can handle nine innings of this.’ Everyone was emotionally drained by the end.”

Hoping for World Series tickets

The Wrixons are hoping to scrounge up World Series tickets, but admit they’re hard to come by. But they said they won’t miss a pitch from the living room during the highly anticipated match-up against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While the Dodgers are the betting favourites, Wrixon predicted the Jays will prevail in seven games.

“This team, there’s something about them,” he said.

“Everybody just chips in for the team. I know the Dodgers will be heavy favourites. They’ve got the massive payroll and the stars. But every night, it’s a different player for the Blue Jays chipping in and I think they can pull it off.”

Game 1 is Friday night. The first pitch is slated for 8 p.m.

Regardless of the World Series outcome, Wrixon said memories of Monday’s win are something he and his family will always treasure.

“We’ll never forget it. Like just grown men crying after the game,” Wrixon said.